Enter Pillayan the politician

By Isuri Kaviratne, Pix by Sanka Vidanagamaa

Attired in full suit, one time tiger guerrilla cadre, 33-year old Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, took oaths as Chief Minister of the Eastern Province at the Presidential Secretariat on Friday amidst blessings from Buddhist, Christian, Muslim and Hindu religious dignitaries.

Flashing a true politician’s smile this one time guerrilla, who fought in the dense jungles of the East, Mr. Chandrakanthan took oaths at 6.15 p.m. The swearing -in ceremony had been scheduled for 4 p.m. but was put off for a more auspicious time, The Sunday Times learns.

Mr. Chandrakanathan, who once fought the security forces in the East has now sworn to abide by the law as he has also been appointed Minister of Law and Order in the Eastern Provincial Council. The other important ministries entrusted to him among others are, Finance, Administration, Rehabilitation and Tourism.

“We won a democratic election and we made many sacrifices for that,” Pillayan said in his speech adding that they gave up arms to enter the democratic path. President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his speech said a person who believed in weapons and who gradually gave it up and entered the democratic political system, has now been appointed the Chief Minister of the East. He also said that the Eastern Province would set an example to the country in many ways in the future.

The President also asked the people not to look at the leader’s ethnicity but to assess him as one who felt the pulse of the eastern people. Emphasizing the futility of finding solutions through the gun and underlining the importance of discussions, the President said the East was about to experience a new rule.

In spite of the President striking a high note of confidence at the swearing- in ceremony, the absence of some UPFA Muslim members who contested the Eastern Provincial Council elections proved that everything was not all that hunky dory.